South Africa marks worst year in rhino killings as demand for horn soars in Asia

By Faith Karimi, CNN

Updated 1341 GMT (2141 HKT) January 18, 2014

Rhinos under attack4 photos

Rhinos under attack – Rhinos have been under attack in recent years by rampant poaching. Highly equipped criminal syndicates target their horns, which are highly coveted in southeast Asia for their supposed healing powers.

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Rhinos under attack4 photos

Rhinos under attack – Poaching rates have soared recently in South Africa, home to about 75% of the world's rhinos. Rhino horns are being sold for a top dollar in parts of southeast Asia, where they are believed to cure all kinds of conditions.

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Rhinos under attack4 photos

Rhinos under attack – To deal with the crisis, South Africa requested permission to launch a once-off legal sale of its stockpiled rhino horn in the hope of quelling poaching.

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Rhinos under attack – A rhino horn and ivory chopsticks and bracelets are all on display at Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department offices on November 15, 2011, after authorities seized a container shipped from South Africa.

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Story highlights

Poachers killed more than 1,000 rhinos for their horns last year in South Africa

Numbers released as U.S. man faces death threats over permit to kill rhino

In Asia, some believe the horn can cure diseases, fueling rhinos' slaughter

A kilogram fetches about $20,000, experts say

Last week, a hunter stunned the world by paying $350,000 to kill a black rhino. The deal went went viral and brought death threats against the hunter.

And that was just people trying to protect one endangered rhino. Imagine more than 1,000.

That is how many poachers in South Africa killed last year, authorities said, a harrowing record for the nation with the world's largest population of the animals.

As demand for the horn soars in China and Vietnam, so does the number of rhinos slaughtered.

In Asia, some believe the horn can cure ills such as cancer, diabetes and hangovers.

The black rhino is critically endangered, and conservationists are fiercely protective of it.

Hunter Corey Knowlton is the U.S. hunter who's now become the hunted. Last week, he paid $350,000 at the Dallas Safari Club's auction for a permit to hunt a black rhino in the southern African nation of Namibia.